Whiplash

⭐ 10/10

I was trying to find something quick to watch with my lunch on the weekend, and whoops I watched this whole movie.  One of my all time favourites, this one never gets old.  It is so tightly made, so well performed, its intense but also an easy watch for me.  I'm not sure why I have watched this movie so many times, since the language is jarring every time and its basically about a kid being abused. Its just so compelling and so well made.

Its interesting to watch something like this with all of Chazelle's work in mind, because its all kind of about the same thing.  Someone wants to be great, at all costs.  In this one Andrew says it straight up, doesn't want to be great, wants to be one of the greats.  He is arrogant and rude to those around him, but something about his drive and ambition makes you root for him!  Fletcher is an amazing villain, but he also tells you what he wants - he wants to foster greatness!  The final scene, them pushing eachother into a prodigious performance, is electric.  There is a great shot in there of Andrew's dad watching in horror as his son returns to the arms of his abuser in search of greatness.

I was thinking a lot of La La Land as I watched, two people forsaking their love for eachother in this pursuit.  First Man has a thematically similar final shot, a man willing distancing himself from his wife despite standing feet apart from eachother.  Babylon has multiple characters self destruct in pursuit of fame .  Clearly Chazelle is obsessed with this, and I wonder if its like a sick fantasy of his, and maybe even of mine? Almost like, if I wanted to I could have reached such high heights, but I prioritized a normal life so now I can live my fantasy through these films. Clearly a fantasy and not something that would have ever been a reality, just trying to understand why I like watching a music teacher berate his student over and over.

Another all time favourite of mine that has a lot in common with this is Tar, especially since it is dealing with personalities that are no longer acceptable in today's society.  Has our obsession with everything being politically correct and discarding everyone with indisputable moral flaws made us lose something? Is that even a bad thing? Or do we lose people that reach these highest heights and produce masterpieces? Can the ends outweight the means? Tar also takes place in the world of music so the parallels are a bit more clear, but I'd love to hear Chazelle give his thoughts on that movie.

The JK Simmons performance is once in a lifetime, and was rewarded as such. Miles Teller is such a jerk but you still want what's best for him, and when he makes of a fool of himself at the family dinner you also kind of like the jabs he throws. The scenes with his girlfriend are really illuminating, really well written.  The characters are all very aware of what they want and tell you directly.

This is a movie that will always fascinate me, and I am sure I will see it a dozen more times in my lifetime.  A work of art for a first time director, a masterpiece I think he has been struggling to chase since it is a perfect distillation of all the themes he is obsessed with.